PhD in Cognitive Psychology/Neuroscience

Will you be the one to discover what interruptions do to our attention? Join our world-renowned lab and investigate how the human brain processes information under suboptimal conditions.

JOB DESCRIPTION

As a member of our research team you will take the initiative in investigating how our visual attention is affected by interruptions. As part of a collective endeavour, you will explore novel ideas, conduct research which delivers solid new scientific knowledge, and report on the findings to your colleagues, at conferences, and in publications. In the end you compile your work in a PhD thesis. A project description is available on request from Prof Chris Olivers, c.n.l.olivers@vu.nl.

Your duties

• map out existing literature and generate new ideas
• co-design and implement new experiments
• collect, analyze, and curate data
• report on the findings in local meetings and inter(national) conferences
• write several scientific articles and a PhD thesis
• assist in (minor) teaching activities within the department
• contribute to the team spirit and help others achieve their goals

REQUIREMENTS

• You successfully completed a research master degree or equivalent in cognition, AI, neuroscience or comparable scientific area. If you have not quite finished yet you may still apply.
• You have demonstrable experience with quantitative research methods in one of these areas
• You can program in Python, Matlab, or equivalent.
• You have excellent verbal and written English language skills
• You are a team player with adequate communicative abilities

As a university, we strive for equal opportunities for all, recognising that diversity takes many forms. We believe that diversity in all its complexity is invaluable for the quality of our teaching, research and service. We are always looking for talent with diverse backgrounds and experiences. This also means that we are committed to creating an inclusive community so that we can use diversity as an asset.

We realise that each individual brings a unique set of skills, expertise and mindset. Therefore we are happy to invite anyone who recognises themselves in the profile to apply, even if you do not meet all the requirements.

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT

Fixed-term contract: 1 year.

A challenging position in a socially engaged organisation. At VU Amsterdam, you contribute to education, research and service for a better world. And that is valuable. So in return for your efforts, we offer you:

• a salary of minimum € 2.872,00 (PhD) and maximum € 3.670,00 (PhD) gross per month, on a full-time basis. This is based on UFO profile PhD candidate. The exact salary depends on your education and experience.
• a position for 1 FTE. The initial contract will be for 1 year, with possibility to extend to max. 4 years contigent on positive evaluation

We also offer you attractive fringe benefits and regulations. Some examples:

• A full-time 38-hour working week comes with a holiday leave entitlement of 232 hours per year. If you choose to work 40 hours, you have 96 extra holiday leave hours on an annual basis. For part-timers, this is calculated pro rata.
• 8% holiday allowance and 8.3% end-of-year bonus
• contribution to commuting expenses
• optional model for designing a personalized benefits package
• discounts on sport and exercise facilities

EMPLOYER

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

About the team
The Interrupt research team is led by Prof Chris Olivers and is part of the Cognitive Psychology group at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. The group is world-leading in its work on perception, attention, working memory, cognitive control and learning in the visual domain. Other scientific staff members include Prof Jan Theeuwes, Prof Heleen Slagter, Dr Mieke Donk, Dr Freek van Ede, Dr Sander Los, Dr Tomas Knapen, Dr Joshua Snell, Dr Johannes Fahrenfort, and Dr Mattias Nau. The research group has expertise in psychophysics, eye tracking, VR, EEG, and fMRI, and has extensive corresponding lab facilities. The group values quality research, personal development, and social cohesion within an international atmosphere. We currently advise about 20 PhD students from all over the world. We have a weekly journal club, a colloquium, and drinks, as well as regular social events. The Lingua Franca is English. A project description is available on request from Prof Chris Olivers, c.n.l.olivers@vu.nl.

Faculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences
Developing knowledge for an active, healthy and meaningful life: that is our mission at the Faculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences at VU Amsterdam. We maintain a broad focus on the fields of behaviour and health. Our teaching and research programmes are devoted to current developments in society. From healthy aging to e-health, and from training top athletes to social media as a teaching tool. We combine three academic disciplines: psychology, movement sciences and education. A multidisciplinary approach allows us to arrive at a better understanding of human behaviour and movement. Our aims are to help people live healthier lives, learn better and function better.

Are you interested in joining Behavioural and Movement Sciences? You are the kind of person who feels at home working in an ambitious faculty, with an informal atmosphere and short lines of communication. We offer you all the space you need for personal development. Together with your 630 colleagues, you will take care of about 4,200 students.

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam stands for values-driven education and research. We are open-minded experts with the ability to think freely. - a broader mind. Maintaining an entrepreneurial perspective and concentrating on diversity, significance and humanity, we work on sustainable solutions with social impact. By joining forces, across the boundaries of disciplines, we work towards a better world for people and planet. Together we create a safe and respectful working and study climate, and an inspiring environment for education and research. Learn more about our codes of conduct

We are located on one physical campus, in the heart of Amsterdam's Zuidas business district, with excellent location and accessibility. Over 6,150 staff work at the VU and over 31,000 students attend academic education.

Diversity
Diversity is the driving force of the VU. The VU wants to be accessible and receptive to diversity in disciplines, cultures, ideas, nationalities, beliefs, preferences and worldviews. We believe that trust, respect, interest and differences lead to new insights and innovation, to sharpness and clarity, to excellence and a broader understanding.

We stand for an inclusive community and believe that diversity and internationalisation contribute to the quality of education, research and our services.

Therefore, we are always searching for people whose backgrounds and experience contribute to the diversity of the VU community.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Are you interested in this position and do you believe that your experience will contribute to the further development of our university? In that case, we encourage you to submit your application.

Submitting a diploma and a reference check are part of the application process.

Please use this platform, Applications by e-mail will not be considered.

Acquisition in response to this advertisement is not appreciated.